Only one in 20 people disagree with the statement that pregnant women requesting a termination should "always" be seen by a qualified doctor before being given the go-ahead.

Although both men and women agree that patients requesting an abortion should be seen by a doctor, the view is held even more strongly by women than men, the survey suggests.

The polling also highlighted widespread fears that women’s health could be put at risk if the requirement to see a doctor is watered down.

It follows the publication of new draft Government guidelines for private abortion clinics which state explicitly that it is “not a legal requirement” for doctors approving abortions to see the women concerned first.

The Christian Institute, which commissioned the poll, has described the new guidelines as the greatest liberalisation of abortion law for almost 50 years.

Almost 190,000 abortions are carried out a year in England and Wales under the 1967 Abortion Act which allows terminations if two doctors agree in good faith that the physical or mental health of the woman or child is at risk.

Opponents claim that the law is already being bent to allow “abortion on demand”.

A Telegraph investigation found of evidence of forms being pre-signed by doctors meaning that at least one of the doctors had given their approval without seeing the woman face to face.

But the draft guidelines claim there is no obligation for either of the doctors to have a consultation with the woman before the procedure is approved.

The document says that while it is “good practice” for at least one of the doctors to have met the woman, it is “not a legal requirement”.

A poll of more than 2,000 people carried out by ComRes last week found that 89 per cent agree that “a woman requesting an abortion should always be seen in person by a qualified doctor”.

While 85 per cent of men polled agreed with the statement, support among women was 92 per cent.

Just over three quarters also thought that women’s health could be put at risk unless doctors signing authorisation forms had seen the patient, with 73 per cent of men agreeing but 78 per cent of women.

Meanwhile 84 per cent of men and 88 per cent of women thought that there should be an explicit ban on aborting foetuses solely because of their gender.

Colin Hart, director of The Christian Institute, said: “The Government is in a complete mess over these changes, which might be open to legal challenge and are certainly against the intention of this law.

“The two doctor rule, reaffirmed by the last Labour Government in 1999 was designed to protect the lives of women and their unborn babies.

“What we have here is the greatest liberalisation of abortion law since its introduction in 1967, while failing to address important issues like the practice of sex-selection abortions.”